MeL Databases: New
Gems and Trusted
Standards
MLA, 2007
Sheryl Mase, Library of Michigan
Suzanne Robinson, Michigan Library Consortium

The Michigan eLibrary
“MeL

mel.org


MeL Coordination at LM
All things MeL!
 Public relations & marketing
 Oversight of MLC support contracts
 III and database contracts
 User interface modifications
 New development

http://michigan.gov/mel
Visit the MeL information website for
marketing tools, sample presentations,
contact information and more…
You can download various PowerPoint
presentations designed for the public,
legislators, and other interested parties.

Michigan eLibrary
Evaluated Best Web Sites

Includes Michigan Educators’ Resources

(MER)
Statewide Library Catalog

Resource sharing system with statewide

delivery
Research Databases

Available for free to Michigan residents 24/7

MeL Michigana

Statewide digitization and local history

projects

MeL by the Numbers
Michiganians ordered 19,791,087

articles during fiscal year 2004-2005.
If charged an average commercial fee
of $15.00 per article, the cost to
residents would have exceeded $2.96
billion.

More MeL by the Numbers
In 2006, MeL databases cost $3.9

million
 In 2006, if every school, public library,
college and university had purchased
these databases separately it would
have cost over $193 million

Add 7 million items to your
library!
Over 24 million items are available in

MeLCat; 7.69 million are unique titles
 So far in ’07 weekly requests average
7,136
 In 2006 MeLCat delivered 184,786
items, as of mid-October ’07, MeL has
delivered 281,756 items (89.2% fill
rate)

MeL is funded via LSTA $$$
The Library Services and Technology Act

(LSTA) is administered by the federal
Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS)
 The Library of Michigan uses LSTA funds
for MeL and MeLCat as well as other
statewide projects and subgrants

Training and Support
Contract with Michigan Library

Consortium
 Support:
Kelly Bayee, Suzanne Robinson,

Heather Thomas:
Training


Database Updates and
Info
Suzanne Robinson, Michigan Library

Consortium
Talking very fast!



Gale enhancements mid-
August
Search Alerts with RSS export: Set up instant search

alerts and journal alerts, with the added ability to create
RSS feeds of InfoTrac content.
Did You Mean?/Also Try: When a search fails to bring

desired results, users are given alternate spellings and
preferred search terms to find appropriate results.
Search Within Results: Dynamically refine search

results to pinpoint specific information by adding or
excluding more terms to queries.

More enhancements
Enhanced Limiting: After a search is completed, the left

sidebar will provide users with the option of selecting
subject terms, subdivisions, article types and
publications to allow further limiting of results.
Enhanced Navigation: Based on feedback, changes

have been made to improve the interface navigation,
including the creation of document tools (print, email,
cite, download, translate) that appear in a visible TOOL
BOX on each document.
Enhanced Tabs: The number of results now will appear

on each tab, and color variation will be added to the
tabs to signify more content behind the other tabs.

More…
Enhanced Bookmarks: Direct access to individual

documents, searches and collections of
documents will be made available through
PowerSearch BOOKMARKS, which are clearly
visible, easy to use, and always persistent.
Improved \"How-to-Cite\" Functionality: MLA and

APA formats for citations will be provided, with
accurate elements, correct spacing and formatting.
Publication Details: More information about each

publication will be provided, including embargo
periods, publisher address and contact
information, and publication descriptions

New Gale Common Menu
(soon)
This is what you see if you do a “change
databases” click…
…or if you point to the Gale menu on

your own page

Gale Cengage Learning
-New Databases
Business and Company ASAP

 Business and Company Resource
Center
 ChiltonLibrary.com
 Educator’s Reference Complete
 Informe!
 Onefiles and Powerpacks

Largest business database
In MeL

Replaces K12
Professional
Collection – more
inclusive

Spanish Languages
Sources

Don’t forget
to
Refresh!

Need Acrobat
Reader

Gale OneFiles
General OneFile

Formerly known as InfoTrac OneFile

 General interest news sources
Academic OneFile

Highly academic journal sources

 Growing weekly

Overlapping of content
Academic Journals General Magazines
Academic OneFile General OneFile
10,500 titles 11,472 titles
60% Unique 60% Unique
Expanded Academic GRC Gold
4803 titles 4981 titles

Powerpacks
Small, subject-focused

 Cross-searchable on Gale
PowerSearch
 By mid-November, will be “databases”
 MeL Support staff can provide direct
URL’s for those who want them
 mel.org – deciding how to incorporate

OCLC
CAMIO -- different interface, new accounts

Hand Press Book

FS interface

History of Science, Technology and Medicine

(HSTM)
FS interface

SCIPIO Art and Rare Book Sales Catalog

FS interface

GONE:

Classe Periodica, PapersFirst, ProceedingsFirst


Ebsco – new MeL vendor!
CINAHL Basic

NoveList


CINAHL Basic
Return of same database we had

before but now from EBSCO
Limited full text

70 nursing journals

Thousands of citations


NoveList
New

For readers of ALL ages

For library staff and educators

 WONDERFUL!

New from ProQuest
HeritageQuest Online

SIRS Renaissance

Gone:

Ancestry Library Edition


Search each
section
separately

Familiar gems
SIRS Discoverer

 General Reference Center Gold
 Gale Virtual Reference Center
 Health and Wellness Resource Center
 InfoBits
 WilsonSelectPlus

General Reference Center
Gold
Great general coverage

Good for just about any student,

faculty

Gale Virtual Reference
Collection
10 titles

Easy to search

Good stuff!


WilsonSelectPlus
Wide coverage – science, humanities,

education, and business
Full Text

PDF or HTML

Good for better readers, faculty


MeL Featured Resources
Electronic Journals List

Michigan Educators’ Resources

Don’t miss it!
